The present invention is related to a seat for use in a vehicle in general, and particularly to a seat to be used in a motor vehicle.
Vehicle seats of various constructions are already known, as are hinges of different constructions which mount the rear component of the vehicle seat on the rear region of the seat component of the seat for tilting at least frontwardly from at least one erect position to a frontwardly collapsed position and back. Then, it is also known to equip the hinges of the hinge arrangement with a fine-adjustment arrangement which enables the user of the seat to select an erect position which is most comfortable or convenient to the user.
Under many circumstances, particularly in a two-door passenger car or in a three-door stationwagon, it is desirable or even mandatory that the back rest component of the front seat of the vehicle be tiltable frontwardly into a collapsed position thereof in order to provide access to the rear part of the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and especially to enable rear-seat passengers to ingress and egress the rear part of the passenger compartment. In this situation, it is desired that the back component of the vehicle seat be releasable for the frontward tilting in a simple, quick and otherwise convenient way, in order not to unduly inconvenience either the front-seat or the rear-seat passengers of the vehicle.
However, another requirement which is to be satisfied under these circumstances is that the latching arrangement which arrests the back component in its erect position be safe, that is, that it reliably maintain the back component in its permanent or selected erect position in the event of a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, particularly in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle. This is not only desired, but in many countries even mandated by statutes, in order to reduce the likelihood of a serious injury both to the front-seat and the rear-seat passengers of the vehicle. As to the rear-seat passengers, a natural tendency in the event of a sudden deceleration of the vehicle would be to brace against the back component of the front seat and, if the arresting arrangement did not securely retain the back component in place, the back component would yield frontwardly under the force exerted thereupon by the rear-seat passenger, and thus not perform the supporting function expected from it by the rear-seat passenger. On the other hand, as to the driver or the front-seat passenger, the yielding of the back component in the frontward direction would trap him or her between the back component and the dashboard or steering wheel and act on him or her with an inertia-based force, possibly aggravated by the force exerted on the back component by the rear-seat passenger, which force or forces could cause additional, or aggravate anyway occurring to injuries suffered by the driver or the front-seat passenger.
In order to satisfy the above requirement, the conventional arresting arrangements for the back component are usually so constructed that they require a voluntary action on part of the driver or of the passenger for releasing the same. So, for instance, at least some of the conventional arresting arrangements include a release button or lever located at the top portion of the respective front seat of the vehicle, which can be displaced by the driver or the passenger of the vehicle into a position in which the arresting arrangement, which is connected to the releasing button or lever, for instance, by a Bowden cable, is moved from its arresting position, into which it is permanently urged, into a releasing position in which it releases the back component of the seat for free tilting toward a frontwardly collapsed position and back. However, it will be appreciated that, because of the need for actuating the release button or lever preparatorily to the frontward tilting of the back component of the vehicle seat, this conventional arresting arrangement for the back component of the seat is less than fully satisfactory.